Thousands of people work as extras at Hengdian World Studios in China (MATTHEW KNIGHT)

Hengdian (China) (AFP) – Fed up with the drudgery of his sales job in southern China, Lu Qi quit and travelled a thousand kilometres north to one of the country’s biggest film studios with hopes of making it in movies.

People in Christchurch lay flowers in tribute to those killed in Friday’s attack (Marty MELVILLE)

Christchurch (New Zealand) (AFP) – Dozens of graves were being dug in a Christchurch cemetery on Monday for the 50 worshippers killed in two mosque attacks, as families clamoured for the return of their dead.

Afghanistan’s estimated 35 million people are overwhelmingly young, with nearly two-thirds of the population under the age of 25 (WAKIL KOHSAR)

Kabul (AFP) – Sitting in his male beauty shop, 25-year-old Zabihullah longs for peace in Afghanistan — but not one that would see religious police beating people in the streets for their hairstyles or outfits.

At least 49 people died in shootings at two mosques during Friday prayers in what appeared to be the worst attack against Muslims in a Western country (Tessa BURROWS)

Christchurch (New Zealand) (AFP) – Bangladesh’s Test cricketers were just a few minutes from being caught up in Friday’s massacre in New Zealand when they arrived at a Christchurch mosque as shooting began, a team spokesman said.

People wait in line to board a bus in Caracas, Venezuela on March 14, 2019 (YURI CORTEZ)

Caracas (AFP) – Venezuelans resumed work Thursday after a weeklong hiatus forced by an unprecedented nationwide blackout, but President Nicolas Maduro’s government faced fresh problems including a “terrorist attack” on an oil facility.

The crash of the Ethiopian Airlines jet killed 157 people
(TONY KARUMBA)

Paris (AFP) – French investigators were examining the black boxes from the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft that crashed in Ethiopia on Thursday, as the ban on the model went worldwide after President Donald Trump added the US to countries that have grounded the aircraft.

The crash of the Ethiopian Airlines jet killed 157 people
(TONY KARUMBA)

Paris (AFP) – The black box flight recorders from the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft that crashed in Ethiopia were flown to France Thursday for analysis as the ban on the model went worldwide after President Donald Trump added the US to countries that have grounded the aircraft.

The war in Yemen is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 14 million people at risk of famine (MANDEL NGAN)

Washington (AFP) – The US Senate on Wednesday dealt a stinging bipartisan rebuke to Donald Trump’s foreign policy and his alliance with Riyadh, voting to end support for the bloody Saudi-led war effort in Yemen.

Thousands of people have fled their homes, some seeking shelter in monasteries, since fighting between rebel groups flared up in November (Ye Aung THU)

Narmakhor (Myanmar) (AFP) – With artillery exploding around her village in Myanmar’s northeast, 70-year-old Nan Nyunt fled to a monastery, one of thousands of civilians trapped between rebel groups who are fighting for influence as a China-driven economic boom looms.

Thousands of people demonstrated Sunday in central Moscow to demand internet freedom in Russia.
(Alexander NEMENOV)

Moscow (AFP) – Thousands of people rallied against Russia’s increasingly restrictive internet policies Sunday which some say will eventually lead to “total censorship” and isolate the country from the world.

Annah Muambadzi was one of many people in poor rural communities across South Africa who lost money when the VBS bank collapsed
after $130 million was looted by 53 individuals last year (GULSHAN KHAN)

Thohoyandou (South Africa) (AFP) – “As treasurer of my stokvel, I had to go to the bank almost every day to find out what is happening,” said Annah Muambadzi, 65, of the panic that gripped her savings club.

Two people speak via video link at the Consumer Electronics Show in Los Vegas (DAVID MCNEW)

San Francisco (AFP) – A septuagenarian Californian learned of his impending death through a video link, outraging his family, which protested the dehumanized and robotic way in which the news was delivered.

Only 33 people won full refugee status in Russia in 2017 (Mladen ANTONOV)

Moscow (AFP) – In a cramped apartment on the outskirts of Moscow, Lamin has little more than the clothes and the Bible he brought with him when he came to Russia on a temporary World Cup visa last summer.

A tornado cut a swath of destruction through the US state of Alabama, killing at least 23 people, according to local officials (Handout)

Washington (AFP) – Rescuers in Alabama were set to resume search operations Monday after at least two tornadoes killed 23 people, uprooted trees and caused “catastrophic” damage to buildings and roads in the southern US state.

People across India have called for the safe return from Pakistan of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman after he was shot down over Kashmir (SAM PANTHAKY)

Islamabad (AFP) – Pakistan was set to free a captured Indian pilot Friday in a “peace gesture” aimed at lowering temperatures with its nuclear arch-rival, after rare aerial raids ignited fears of a dangerous conflict in South Asia.

Honouring a stream of women, people of colour and films and talent from across the worl, Oscars 2019 turned out to be a night of many firsts and an example of how diversity needs to be embraced now more than ever.

Police said people started falling sick after consuming a batch of illegally produced liquor late Thursday (David TALUKDAR)

Guwahati (India) (AFP) – At least 58 more workers have died in northeastern India after drinking toxic liquor, police said Sunday, taking the death toll from the latest mass alcohol poisoning beyond 150.

Police said people started falling sick after consuming a batch of illegally produced liquor late Thursday (David TALUKDAR)

Guwahati (India) (AFP) – At least 35 more workers have died in northeastern India after drinking toxic liquor, police said Sunday, taking the death toll from the latest mass alcohol poisoning beyond 130.

Dhaka (AFP) – At least 69 people have died in a huge blaze that tore through apartment buildings also used as chemical warehouses in an old part of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, fire officials said Thursday.

Women stroll in a camp for people who were affilated with the Islamic State group in the northern Syrian village of Malikiya in September 2018 (Delil Souleiman)

Washington (AFP) – The United States said Tuesday it wanted to ensure foreign jihadists remain off the battlefield as it weighed options on an American detained in Syria who says she wants to return home.

Vale says it should not be punished for the disaster, which buried hundreds of people in muddy mining waste (Mauro PIMENTEL)

Sao Paulo (AFP) – Brazilian authorities arrested eight employees of mining giant Vale on Friday over a dam collapse at one of its mines three weeks ago that killed at least 166 people and left 147 missing, presumed dead.

Airlines struggled to fill a plane capable of carrying anywhere from 500 to 850 people (CARL COURT)

Paris (AFP) – European aerospace giant Airbus said Thursday that it would stop building its A380 superjumbo, the double-decker jet which earned plaudits from passengers but failed to win over enough airlines to justify its massive costs.

Airlines struggled to fill a plane capable of carrying anywhere from 500 to 850 people (CARL COURT)

Paris (AFP) – European aerospace giant Airbus said Thursday it would end production of the A380 superjumbo, the double-decker jet which earned plaudits from passengers but failed to win over enough airlines to justify its massive costs.

In an attempt to slow armed crime in Baltimore, where more than 300 people a year have been murdered since 2015, police carry out buy-backs of street weapons, paying people to turn in their guns (Jim WATSON)

Washington (AFP) – The crime-racked US city of Baltimore got a new police chief on Monday, tasked with curbing a soaring murder rate and stamping out corruption within the force.

Some 300 people in the 38-storey Opal Tower were evacuated on Christmas Eve after the cracking reports (SAEED KHAN)

Sydney (AFP) – Australia’s most populous state said Sunday it would embark on the “biggest overhaul of building laws” in its history, months after residents were evacuated from a recently completed Sydney high-rise apartment that made “cracking noises”.

Time-shift television, a technology that allows people to watch TV shows they missed without presetting devices to record content, may not reduce the amount of time people spend watching live TV and the advertisements on the shows, suggests new research.

Making sure that people who are infected with HIV take antiretroviral medications is a major factor in eliminating the virus’s spread (Denis CHARLET)

Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump’s call for an all-hands-on-deck push to end the AIDS epidemic focuses on trouble areas and vulnerable populations as progress against HIV has stalled, officials said on Wednesday.

Transgender designer Pierre Davis says she hopes her brand will inspire people to think about “humanity,” not just commerce or esthetics (Johannes EISELE)

New York (AFP) – Los Angeles designer Pierre Davis made her debut in New York this week, becoming the first openly transgender creator to present a collection at Fashion Week, further shaking up an event that had already featured trans models.

People walk in a park on the US side of Niagara Falls as seen from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada on January 31, 2019 (Lars Hagberg)

Chicago (AFP) – An Arctic air mass blamed for the deaths of more than 20 people in the US began moving out to sea Friday, easing its grip on about a dozen states that have endured days of record-breaking cold.

The task of recovering the bodies of people killed in the collapse of a dam in Brazil requires men digging down, often by hand, into mud up to 15 meters (50 feet) deep, pulling out corpses that are bagged then airlifted away by helicopter (Mauro PIMENTEL)

Brumadinho (Brazil) (AFP) – The death toll from the collapse of a Brazilian dam rose to 84 on Tuesday as mining giant Vale announced that moves to dismantle similar structures would hit production.